You know it's an election year when hour three of a debate about the perils of "electability" declarations is interrupted by someone inquiring about the time. "Only three minutes until New Year..." was the response.

Everyone is gearing up for the Iowa caucus, including Mike Huckabee, who held one of the weirdest press conferences, to unveil, denounce, and screen (for reporters) his Romney attack ad. Some think it's Huckabee's "Dean moment" - that is - the moment when one's campaign gets derailed by a blunder. It is not, however, his Dean moment for three reasons.

For it to be a Dean moment, it has to be 1) spontaneous, 2) seemingly innocuous, and 3) short. Huckabee's was 1) calculated, 2) weirdly political (for a man, historically, not so inclined) and 3) long. There's no viral video aspect.

Will it hurt? Absolutely not. Someone astutely pointed out that the media will paint is as a colossal folly, but fence Republican/conservative voters are likely not making decisions based on the NYT, et. al.

Will it help? Actually, yes. Huckabee didn't have to pay to air the thing, but you can find it online, no probs.